Surah Furqan - Ep.5 | Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed

Gratitude, Arrogance, and the Blessings We Overlook

Each one of us has certain attributes, qualities, and strengths that others do not have. And if each one of us were to focus and appreciate the blessings of Allah that we have, we would never become ungrateful. Rather we would be grateful for what we have, and be extremely thankful for these blessings.

Beloved brothers, what happens is, sometimes a person looks at the blessings he has, and instead of becoming grateful to Allah, he or she regards themselves to be superior to all others, because in one small aspect of life, they find themselves to be superior than others. And instead of attributing that blessing towards Allah عَزَّ وَجَلَّ, they make a huge mistake by attributing that to themselves, which eventually leads them to debasing others and arrogance. And this person will not be able to enter Jannah until their heart is cleansed from this arrogance.

So this is one problem. The other flip side of this is some people look at the blessings of others, and they don't look at their own blessings, and then they start suffering an inferiority complex, which eventually leads them to become ungrateful to Allah — kufran al-ni'mah — which is also another major sin. This also then paves their path towards, Allah forbid, hellfire.

So these are two major flaws that people end up in. One is to completely regard the blessings or the strengths we have as our own, attribute that to ourselves, and begin to look down upon others who don't have that one specific thing that we have, which leads to arrogance and so forth. The other major mistake that people do is to completely ignore the few things that Allah has given us that He has not given to those around us.

And so instead of becoming grateful for that, we keep on focusing at what others have and not what we have, and this leads to comparing ourselves with others, and then leading to ingratitude. So both of these are things we must stay away from — ingratitude and arrogance. What is the middle path? What is the correct path? It is that we count our blessings, and attribute that to Allah.

A Lesson in Madinah al-Munawwarah

Whenever we feel down, we feel bad on a test — everyone else is saying, "Oh, look at mine, I got an 85, I got a 90, I got a 95," and a person's got a 60 or a 50. Okay, yes, it seems like a kind of gloomy period for us. But then immediately at that moment, we should start focusing on some of the blessings that Allah has given you. That's the time to think: what do I have that others don't have? And if we seriously, all of us, take a moment, we can think of 10 things right now that I have that the person next to me doesn't have.

All of us do. I remember one day I was with my ustad in Madinah al-Munawwarah, and I was expressing some frustrations to him. And after listening to it, he told me, "You know what? Those frustrations are correct in their own place, but you're being ungrateful."

I said, subhanAllah, how is that? He said, "If you think about how many things Allah has given you, then in terms of these frustrations, they are nothing." Then he said, "Let's do wudu, let's go to the haram."

So we did wudu — this was around 10:30 AM — and we went to Masjid al-Nabawi, alayhi al-salatu wassalam. And we walked towards the Riyadhul Jannah. This is pre-COVID era, where you could just go in. So we went to the Riyadhul Jannah, and you know, at that time you could go in, yes, but you wouldn't always find a spot, even at 11 AM. But alhamdulillah, within minutes of arrival — maybe the ladies had just left, the purdah and the wall had just been removed — alhamdulillah, we were able to walk right in within minutes. And he started his salatul duha, tahiyyatul masjid, whatever it may have been.

I was about to start salah, and a brother came — an elderly uncle — started saying something to me in Arabic. I didn't understand what he was saying. So I asked him in Arabic, "What are you saying?" And then he repeated it. We are where? We are in Riyadhul Jannah. An elderly person. And he's asking me:

Where is the grave of the Prophet?

That's when I figured out what he was saying. Where the grave of the Prophet ﷺ literally is — the distance between me and this window here. That's it. So I told him, "Right here. We're right in front. This is it." He said, "Oh, this is it." He thanked me and moved on.

Immediately what thought came to my mind is: how true are the words of my ustad? Yes, I'm from America. Yes, I was born and raised in a non-Muslim land. But subhanAllah, here is a man whose original language is not only Arabic, but who is definitely from the Muslim lands — who is much closer to the grave of the Prophet ﷺ and the city of the Prophet ﷺ than I am. And he's much, much, much older than me. But the poor man had never had an opportunity to come visit the city.

And he's absolutely clueless. If he's clueless about where the Prophet's ﷺ grave is, do you think he knows the Ustuwanas? Do you think he knows which pillar means what? Do you think he knows the history of Masjid al-Nabawi? Do you think he knows where exactly the mihrab of the Prophet ﷺ was? Do you think he knows the history of Suffah? Does he know the history of Ustuwana Aisha? Does he know the history of the expansion of the masjid that happened in the time of Uthman رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ? Going all the way to the Ottoman expansion, and the King Fahd expansion, and the renovations that happened afterwards. Does he know the fada'il and the virtues of salawat ala al-nabi ﷺ in this spot? What is Riyadhul Jannah itself? That wasn't even a discussion, by the way. It was just "where's the grave of the Prophet?" What about Riyadhul Jannah? No.

And Allah has blessed this sinful small servant of His who lives in a faraway country, born far away from any masjid, far away from any Islamic land — but He's blessed this sinful soul with so many opportunities to go visit those blessed lands, and lead so many people. SubhanAllah, I got my answer right there. Really, if I think about this one aspect — it's a massive blessing, but it's just one aspect of a life filled with so many different dimensions. When you think about that blessing, really who's got time to sit there and cry and lament over other things?

Be grateful and smile and enjoy, and be happy for the blessings that you have.

A Lesson in Makkah al-Mukarramah

I remember once again a similar type of incident that happened with me in Makkah al-Mukarramah. It was the time of Dhuhr salah, right before Dhuhr began. And I was reciting Quran on the first floor, with the Ka'bah of Allah in front. An elderly man next to me — also Arab — was just staring at me. And after a while, subhanAllah, when I put the Mus'haf away, he looked at me and started speaking to me in a very strong village-like dialect — like a Bedouin, from far away from the city, you could tell. And he honestly told me, "I'm about 80 years old. It's my first time over here. I see you're reading Arabic, you're reading Quran so fluently." And then he honestly just told me:

I know nothing besides Surah Al-Ikhlas.

He wanted to share that. And Allah عَزَّ وَجَلَّ is showing me — Allahu Akbar — what type of blessings:

Which of the blessings of your Lord will you deny? Which type of blessings do we all have. So all of us need these moments in our life to simply reflect on what we all have that others don't have. And use that as a moment not to think of ourselves as superior to anyone, but rather to be humbled — that I don't deserve these blessings. Yet Allah, notwithstanding my inability and incapability and my weakness and my sins, has destined to bless me with these things which I don't deserve.

The only thing I should be doing is having my head bowed down in front of Allah in sujood, thanking Him for the blessings I have.

This Life Is a Fitnah

My beloved friends, this is what we talk about — the fitnah. This entire life is a fitnah. Every one of us is a fitnah for another person. Think about it. The person who's got a fully paid off — mashAllah — $25,000 vehicle, he's enjoying it, all his needs are being fulfilled. Then he sees a $60,000 vehicle parked next to him. And he's getting out of the car and he sees it. All of a sudden: "Oh man, that looks nice." You don't know that this brother — he might have borrowed it from someone. He may have just taken out a loan for his first monthly payment. He doesn't even own 5% of that car. Whereas you, mashAllah, have a fully paid car. He's not enviable — you're enviable. But shaitan, what happens? He makes us perceive everything that other people have as more juicy, more interesting, more nice.

I remember one physician many years ago — there was a small fundraiser in a small little town. All these senior physicians were there, and subhanAllah, they looked at the project, the Dar-ul-Salam project. Some of them gave nothing. Some gave $100, $200. One brother — mashAllah, I still remember — he gave $5,000. It was a big thing. This was around 2008 or 2009. And he was the youngest of all the doctors.

Then he told me one thing. He said, "I live in an apartment. Month to month I pay rent. I drive a very simple car. And the physicians of my town say, 'You are actually a source of disgrace for us. Because we feel shy inviting you over to our house with the simple car that you drive. To be associated with you — someone who lives in an apartment and drives such a simple car — doesn't fit in our social circle.'" He told me this. He said, "This is the way I'm ostracized by my people and my own profession."

And I said, subhanAllah, look at the people of your profession who are 20 years senior to you, who have probably 10 times more wealth than you. You're just starting up. But look at the difference — how Allah عَزَّ وَجَلَّ accepted from you 10 times more than what He has accepted from any of them.

It's a give and take. A person who thinks of the akhirah — his lifestyle is different. And the one who lives only for this dunya — his lifestyle is different. He said, "Why should I move into a home which I don't own? I plan to have my own house, but I'm going to save up money for that. It'll be a matter of years. But I'm not going to stay in a house that I don't own. I'd rather just pay month to month rent." Financially many of you sitting here may say, "Oh, that doesn't make sense." Well, that's you and your math. But he's working at a different level. He says, "SubhanAllah, if I pass away today, I don't want to have any loans." His mindset is different.

And he said, this mindset is what inspires him to give sadaqah. The other mindset — that says I need to live at my social status, not what I own but by my social status — what happens? A person can't even give sadaqah, even though he has so much. Because he's always worried about trying to impress people of that social circle.

So this is the fitnah that we are for one another. Those people thought that the other physician was a museeba for them — that they don't want to hang out with him, don't want him to come to their house driving that simple car. Allah عَزَّ وَجَلَّ has made all of us a fitnah for one another.

Fitnah does not mean museeba — like a difficulty, like it's horrible. No. Fitnah means a test. A test can be great. Say you study hard and you have an exam at year end. You're excited — why? Because you're going to graduate to the next year, you're going to be valedictorian, you're going to have an A+. Those who study hard are looking forward to their exams. An exam is not a museeba. It's just an opportunity for you to prove how well you studied. On the other hand, there's a person who did not study the whole year and played around. Of course the exam is a museeba for him, because he's going to fail.

So the dunya, when we talk about fitnah, does not automatically mean difficulty. Fitnah simply means a test. It could work very beneficially for you, or it could become a museeba for you. And so Allah عَزَّ وَجَلَّ says:

Indeed, your wealth and your children are a fitnah. This does not mean that we should hate our children. It does not mean we should hate our wealth. It simply means: if Allah has given you wealth, and Allah has given you children, make sure you utilize these blessings in the correct manner. And it should not happen that these blessings are wasted away only for material gain, and a person does not plan how he can enjoy the akhirah.

The Prophet ﷺ as a Fitnah for the Disbelievers

My dear friends, the Rasulullah ﷺ was a fitnah for the kuffar. How so? Because they said:

Why is this Quran revealed unto a noble, wealthy, rich person from either Makkah or Ta'if? Why is it revealed to a simple prophet who doesn't have much? That was a fitnah — time and again they kept on bringing up the issue that the Prophet ﷺ did not have enough material things. We talked about that from the beginning of this surah. Why don't you have gardens? Why don't you have angels front and center around you? Why don't you have a treasure chest laden with gold and silver — a kanz — behind you?

So the fact that Rasulullah ﷺ was simple and didn't have much — it became a fitnah. You know what this reminds me of? This reminds me of all those simple ulama who have their simple topi and simple kurta. And it reminds you of all those simple madrasa students who dress in a very simple manner. But if they say something beneficial, the people of the dunya will spit at them, will not look at them. They say, "Who are you? Who do you think you even have the right to open your mouth and say something? Look at yourself." But what do you mean look at myself? I'm wearing two pieces of nice clean white clothes — the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ. But no — the fact that you're not wearing a certain type of suit and expensive clothing means you're not worthy of their time.

And this is one of the beautiful statements — if I remember correctly, it's of Mawlana Yusuf Kandhlawi, rahmatullahi alayhi, or his father, Mawlana Ilyas. He said something powerful about this effort of da'wah and tabligh that happens across all continents of the world. He said: the simplicity of this work has led people to fall into delusion about its effectiveness and power. Because it looks so simple. Where's your flyer? Where's your PowerPoint? Where's your tools? Where's your setup? You're just carrying a pillow and a sheet and a miswak and a kurta and a few books? That's it? And you're out for a year? Where's all your gadgets? Where's your camper? Where's all your suits?

The simplicity — how could a people dress so simply, walk so simply, have an effect on the world that is to be reckoned with? That's the reality of it. Allah put the effectiveness of it in its simplicity. Just like the anbiya were the most effective people. The highest return on investment — who? The prophets. Within 23 years, how did Rasulullah ﷺ change this world? Was there any sophistication? Or was it just straight up absolutely simple — Rasulullah ﷺ sitting there, everyone's welcome, the door is open, no guard, no security, no agent, no appointments. Any girl could come and say, "Ya Rasulullah, I want to talk to you." "Okay, yes." That's our Nabi. Our Nabi is the one who brought the biggest change the world has ever seen in a matter of 23 years. What others could not do in 2,000 years, he did it with all his simplicity. He did it with being down to earth. He did it with being approachable. He did it without all the sophisticated things that today we demand for.

Every statement of his, every action of his was filled with divinely inspired wisdom. So don't think that anything was haphazard. Every utterance of his was divinely inspired. I'm not saying you don't plan, I'm not saying you don't think or write things out — of course we do all of that. But stop thinking that in order for someone to be worthy of your time, or to have an effect in this world, they need to be wearing a $2,000 suit or driving a $90,000 car.

SubhanAllah, this statement gives me the shivers. Are you going to impress people with what you wear? That goes completely contrary to our Sunnah. Because the anbiya, alayhim al-salam, did not impress people by what they wore. They did not impress people even with very flowery words. Rather, Rasulullah ﷺ has prohibited us from using flowery words. He spoke against those who speak with a full mouth — with takalluf, with tasannu' — where every single word is like an act.

On Stage vs. Off Stage — The Danger of Nifaq

I seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Shaitan. That's what's happening today — it's all scripted, it's an act. Recently someone was asking me about what happens on stage and what happens off stage. And I said, listen, public speaking in reality is an act. It's like a comedian — he's up on stage doing a comedy act; don't expect him to be the same person when he gets off the stage. Unfortunately, slowly we're going towards that, where the podium, the stage, the minbar, is a place of acting. As long as you're in that room, in that space, the act will continue. But once you're off stage and the mic is off and the lights are off, things may go 180 degrees and change in a completely different direction.

Just understand that. That's why — don't put people at a level they shouldn't be at. Just Rasulullah ﷺ and the sahaba, alhamdulillah. That's it. Anyone and everyone after that can make major blunders and mistakes. Don't let your iman go down the drain if someone you looked up to and listened to — you hear something that you don't like, you see something that you don't like. I'm sorry, this is the era. We have to have a warning about it from beforehand. Train yourself to say, "I'll take from the speech and that's it." Because I may hear or see something that I don't like, and that should not be a representation of Islam. Because it's not.

Sometimes — not everyone falls into this category. Obviously, our mashayikh and our elders whom we benefited from — may Allah reward them, give them long life and health, and allow us all to benefit from them. Alhamdulillah, with them, in and out is the same. There was no act per se. Whether they're in the classroom or at home. Whether they're giving a speech or taking a stroll. Whether you sit with them in the car going from one place to another — you will never see nifaq. You will never see dhul wajhayn. You won't see contradictions.

I'll tell you — I've never experienced that. Never, alhamdulillah. From all the time I traveled with my teachers. From all the time I spent in their homes. From all the time I was with them in private gatherings. Never saw even one person different from what they were in public. And this is beautiful. This is where the du'a comes in:

O Allah, make my internal aspects better than my external aspects, and make my external aspects also beautiful and good and connected with You. So the idea is — all of this is a fitnah. When you look at someone who is pious and righteous but doesn't have much money, and you, Allah forbid, degrade them in your heart and say, "Who are these people? Look, they can't even speak English."

Language Is Not a Measure of Knowledge

Brother, if someone doesn't speak English, and you speak English, how does that make you superior to them? Think about that. Do you know how to speak fluent, classical Fusha Arabic, or Urdu, or Farsi? If you don't, then would you suddenly start thinking of yourself as inferior? Since when does speaking English make a person — how does that become the sign of 'ilm? That if you speak fluent English, then you must be a scholar. And if you don't speak English, we're not going to waste our time with you, because you're a jahil. That's what's genuinely happening.

Brother, language is just a means of communication. Same thing I'll say for Arabic. Just because someone knows how to speak Arabic does not mean he is knowledgeable in any sense of the word. Abu Lahab's and Abu Jahl's Arabic — all the Arabic departments of the world cannot create men like that. So speaking Arabic itself does not suddenly make a person knowledgeable. This is our problem — we look at these languages and say someone who speaks English very fluently must be a scholar, and someone who speaks Arabic very fluently must be a scholar. On what basis?

I say that because people judge me and people like me based on that. They say, "Oh, you speak very good English, so you must be a scholar." How do you make a judgment call like that? These are not the ways you measure knowledge. First of all, we don't even have the tools to measure knowledge, because you need to be in the field to understand. But these are mistakes that society is making today.

As one of our teachers would say: it is not a deficiency in an Urdu-speaking scholar that he doesn't speak English. Rather, it's our deficiency that we haven't learned his language to understand his speech. Because after Arabic, most definitely in the current era, Urdu is at the top in terms of the amount of khidmat — service — that's being done of deen. In terms of fatawa, commentaries of hadith, tafaseer that are being written — it's unbelievable what's written in Urdu. In the past hundred years, the type of knowledge that has come out from the subcontinent is unbelievable. And this is the fadal of Allah.

He used Madinah for some time. Then He used Kufa for some time. He used Damascus for some time. He used Mawara al-Nahr — Bukhara, Samarkand — for some time. He used Delhi for some time. He used Hyderabad for some time. All these places have been used for different eras to produce 'ilm and ulama and libraries and books. And so:

Wherever the knowledge is, go for it. You cannot say, "I'm from this country, hence I'm going to only learn that language." Allah can give prominence to any country, any language. All the languages belong to Allah. Whatever He uses, He may choose. My point is: do not downgrade and degrade any Urdu-speaking or Arabic-speaking scholar because you don't know that language. This is absolutely the wrong way to assess ulama.

This is the height of arrogance — that the world rotates around us Americans, and if someone speaks my language, I'll respect him, and if they don't speak my language, they are of no use. This is a fitnah.

Every Relationship Is a Fitnah

More easy, more obvious examples: a healthy person is a fitnah for a sick person. A sick person is a fitnah for a healthy person. An elder person is a fitnah for a younger one. A younger one is a fitnah for an elder one. How annoyed do you get? You're a senior, looking at a youngster making noise — that's a fitnah. The youngster says, "Why does this elder keep looking at me and saying keep quiet?" — that's a fitnah for the youngster.

And obviously — all of you are waiting for this example — the husband is a fitnah for the wife, and the wife is a fitnah for the husband. No doubt. So every time you go home — husbands and wives who are listening to me — understand that the one in front of you, your spouse, is a fitnah for you. That doesn't mean, again, it's a museeba. It's just that Allah is going to test you through him or her. How well will you succeed in this test? How well do you navigate this scenario? If you have to do shukr, you do shukr. If you have to do sabr, you do sabr. Difficulties will come. Allah asks:

Will you be patient? And if you're trying to impress someone, remember:

Your Lord is all-watchful. Allah is watching whether you're going to be patient or not. I think this is a very powerful ayah for us to reflect on. That's why I spent so much time on it. Because we think, "My life is great, except for my wife. Life is great, except for my boss. Life is great, except for that uncle." What we don't understand is that that uncle, that husband, that son-in-law, that daughter-in-law — that's actually your door to Jannah. Everything is fine, but that one individual is where the test comes in. And that's exactly where we might be failing. Because if everyone's smiling at you and sharing gifts with you, that's not a test. The test comes when someone is being mean with you, harsh with you, difficult with you. How do you handle that person?

So when you say, "Everything in my life is fine except for this situation," understand that that situation is where Allah wants to see you succeed. If we understand the crux of this verse, it will truly change the way we act and interact with one another. We will always try our best to remain patient. We'll always try to say, "This is a challenge that has been sent to me from Allah, and inshAllah I'm going to win. I'm not going to lose my cool. I'm not going to lose my temper. I'm going to be resolute, strong, and we're going to make this thing work out." Imagine if every spouse thought about their spouse like this — that today he is in a bad mood, today she is in a bad mood. Allah is testing me. Allah is wanting to see how I will interact with this situation.

The Arrogance of the Disbelievers — Surah Al-Furqan Ayah 21

Moving on to the next ayah. Those who do not hope for our destined meeting on the Day of Judgment — they say:

"Will not the angels be sent down to us with Allah's messages? Or are we not to see our Lord with our own eyes?" Very truly they have grown so very arrogant within themselves, and thus they have insolently defied Allah with the greatest insolence.

So Allah is mentioning what those disbelievers who do not believe in the hereafter say. What do they say? They are not expecting to meet Allah — because they are giving preference to the dunya over the akhirah. There is one thing called aajilah and one thing called aajilah. Aajilah means something quick — that's this dunya. The other aajilah means something that comes later on. We've got cash and credit. Cash is dunya, credit is akhirah. Those who give preference to cash over credit are the ones who don't look forward to meeting Allah.

Meeting Allah — The Middle Path

Now, how do you meet Allah? Naturally we're not going to be like the Mujassimah, who give Allah a shape and a form — wa al-'iyadhu billah — and say we're going to come face to face with Him in that sense. Nor are we going to be like the Mu'tazilah, who use logic in the wrong place and say, "In order to meet someone, you have to have shapes, a beginning and end of the body, a latitude and longitude" — hence meeting with Allah does not even happen, or is completely metaphorical. Those are two extremes.

The middle position is: why are you trying to be arrogant and apply everything according to your own mindset? This is of a different nature. Allah — لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِ شَيْءٌ — nothing resembles Him. Allah has sama' — the ability to hear — but not like the way we hear. He has basar — sight — but not like the way we see. He has the ability to create, but not like ours. Every single thing Allah is above and beyond what you and I have. These are words that are similar, but the manifestation when it comes to the Being of Allah عَزَّ وَجَلَّ is far different and far removed from its manifestation within our lives. So meeting with Allah does not entail what happens when you meet one another.

The Story of Musa and the Mountain

Musa, alayhissalam, said:

"O my Lord, allow me to see You." He said, "O Musa, you will never be able to see Me in this world." Not because He cannot be seen — it's because you don't have the capacity and capability in this world to see Him. The problem is not in the thing being beheld — the problem is in the weakness of the beholder.

Allah said, "Look at this mountain. If the mountain, after My tajalli — the manifestation of My nur upon it — can withstand it, then you'll be able to see Me." When Allah manifested Himself upon the mountain in a manner befitting that scenario, what happened? That tajalli made the mountain into small dust — instantaneously the entire mountain became a huge dust cloud. And Musa, alayhissalam, simply looking at the mountain, fell down unconscious. When he regained consciousness, he said, "Glory be to You. You are above and beyond being beheld by a human naked eye or any other eye in this dunya. I repent to You, I made a mistake."

But Allah did not say لَنْ أُرَى — "I will never be seen." He said لَنْ تَرَانِي — "You will not be able to see Me," meaning in this dunya, in this situation, you don't have the capacity. In the akhirah, of course:

There will be faces that will be gleaming with nur and light, very fresh, and they will have the honor of seeing Allah. So is it possible to meet Allah? Yes, in a manner that befits Him. A person will be able to enjoy Allah's countenance in a manner that befits Him in the akhirah.

And Allah actually mentions being deprived of this as a punishment for the disbelievers:

The disbelievers will be deprived of seeing Allah — and that is the greatest punishment. If being deprived of seeing Him is mentioned as a punishment in Surah Al-Mutaffifeen, that means being able to see Him will be possible. Otherwise, what would it mean to punish someone by being deprived of something impossible?

The Three Words: Kabura, Takabbara, Istakbara

So those people who are not expecting to meet Allah because they didn't prepare to meet Him — they keep asking: "Why is Rasulullah a human being? Why wasn't he an angel?" And then: "We don't even need an angel — we want to see Allah face to face." So Allah talks about the arrogance of these mushrikeen. He says: لَقَدِ اسْتَكْبَرُوا فِي أَنفُسِهِمْ. Now this word — when something is large and big, you use the word كَبُرَ. When someone is acting arrogant and wants to show off his greatness in front of people, that is called تَكَبَّرَ. And when a person has nothing worthy of making him haughty and arrogant, yet he chooses to do so — that is called اسْتَكْبَرَ.

So Allah says, لَقَدِ اسْتَكْبَرُوا — they have nothing in them that should make them worthy of arrogance, yet they have this arrogance within themselves. وَعَتَوْ عُتُوًّا كَبِيرًا — they have insolently defied with the greatest insolence, crossed all boundaries of oppression against Allah's deen, and have not been honest with themselves.

A Hadith on Three Whom Allah Hates

Rasulullah ﷺ mentions regarding Allah:

(Sahih Ibn Hibban, Hadith 1919; also referenced in Sunan al-Nasa'i)

Allah loves three and hates three. He hates an elderly person who commits zina. Zina is a horrible sin, but when committed by an elder it is even worse and makes the person more worthy of Allah's anger. وَالْفَقِيرَ الْمُخْتَالَ — Allah dislikes an arrogant person, but someone who doesn't have much in terms of wealth, yet is arrogant — Allah dislikes him even more. Because we can understand a wealthy man being tested with the fitnah of wealth and failing. But a faqeer who has nothing, yet inside his heart he is arrogant — Allah hates this even more. وَالْمُكْثِرَ الْبَخِيلَ — the one who has a lot of wealth yet is stingy, Allah dislikes him even more, because he has more than enough and can afford to give, but due to his stinginess gives nothing.

When They Will See the Angels — Surah Al-Furqan Ayah 22

Allah says something powerful here. These people keep on saying, "We want to see the angel, we want to see the angel." Okay. You're going to see the angel. Not today, but a little bit later. The day they will see the angels, there shall be no glad tidings on that day for the defiant unbelievers. لَا بُشْرَىٰ يَوْمَئِذٍ لِّلْمُجْرِمِينَ. Rather, the angels will say to these people: حِجْرًا مَّحْجُورًا — may a barrier bar you from all bliss. May a huge wall envelope you from all directions and bar you from enjoying any blessing of the akhirah.

These people said they would not accept the message of the Prophet until they saw angels. Well, there is a time when you will see angels. But it's not going to be here — it's going to be at the time of death. And when you see the angels at the time of death, they will not be the angels of mercy. They will be the angels of 'adhab. Those who will come to pull out the soul of a disbeliever or sinful person. Allah says:

Those people whose souls the angels will take while they were sinful, oppressing themselves — the angels will say: "What were you doing? Where have you been?" They will give excuses. We are all great at giving excuses. Why didn't you pray Isha? Why did you miss Fajr? Why did you not pay Zakat? Why were you disrespectful to your mother? We all have a hundred excuses. So the angels, when they pull out the soul of the sinful person, looking at a book of deeds replete with sins, will say: "What were you doing?"

They will answer: كُنَّا مُسْتَضْعَفِينَ فِي الْأَرْضِ — "We were oppressed on earth. You don't understand. This is 2024, the smartphone era. This is America, survival of the fittest. We were chasing the American dream. Our parents came with very little money. We had to worry about our children's college education. This is not a Muslim land. The only way you can succeed here is if you have money, and in order to have money I could not go for Jumu'ah..."

Just today I went to a Muslim business. SubhanAllah. I said I'm from Dar-ul-Salam. "Oh, ya khayr, subhanAllah, I've always wanted to go for Jumu'ah but I can't go." What are you doing? That's what's happening all around us. People are busy. Why can't you close the shop and come? "Because this is America. The only way to survive is to have money. Otherwise our children will be forced to leave the deen." Shaitan is misleading us.

So they'll say, "We were oppressed on the earth, it's not our fault." The answer will be: أَلَمْ تَكُنْ أَرْضُ اللَّهِ وَاسِعَةً فَتُهَاجِرُوا فِيهَا — "Wasn't Allah's earth wide? The only place in the entire world was your address? Your zip code? Your country? You could have traveled anywhere you wanted. Who told you you had to stick to where you stayed?" Hijrah for the sake of deen. If you cannot practice your deen where you are, then you are not as wedded to that place as you may think. And if we think we are, the angels will set the record straight at the time of death. It's mentioned in the 14th Juz:

The end result of such people will be hellfire. And what a horrible place to go to.

The Angel of Death and the Two Types of Souls

The soul will not want to come out when it sees the angel of death. The angel of death will not come alone — he will come with his whole army. And who is that army? Depending on who the soul is, the army will come accordingly. If the soul is headed towards Illiyyeen — the place where the good souls are kept — then beautiful, extremely well-dressed, extremely fragrant angels will come. As Imam Qurtubi mentions many narrations about this, he says simply looking at the beauty of those angels, smelling their amazing fragrance, and beholding their charisma — it will be as though just that vision itself is sufficient as a reward for all the good a man has done in this world. The nafs will want to jump out — the ruh will want to jump out. It won't want to stay in this world for one extra moment.

On the flip side, that soul headed towards Sijjeen — where the sinners are kept — the Angel of Death will come with that army whose faces will be so ugly, carrying such a strong stench, coming with chisels and axes from Jahannum to scrape out the soul, and with a very thorny box for the soul to be placed in. Just looking at them, a person will think that this sight itself is sufficient punishment for the sins he has committed. But the punishment has not even begun yet.

Allah says the angels will say:

"Come out." Like a little child who's scared and doesn't want to go to the doctor's appointment, hiding under the bed — or a cat that doesn't want to go to the vet and is hiding. This is how the soul will hide, going deep inside the body.

Allah says the angels will be hitting their faces and their backsides, pulling out the soul — with much difficulty they will push the soul out of the body. While the soul knows that what awaits is much, much worse than any punishment ever seen in this world.

Today you're going to be punished with the punishment of disgrace. Because of the arrogant way you led your life, now today we're going to sort you out. So those who said they wanted to see angels — Allah is telling them, you will see angels. But the venue will be different. The time will be different. And it will be a time when you wish you had never had to come face to face with these angels.

When they see the angels giving glad tidings to the people of Jannah, these disbelievers will rush forward trying to get in line. And the angels will look at them and say: لَا بُشْرَىٰ — there are absolutely no glad tidings for you. You're in the wrong line. حِجْرًا مَّحْجُورًا — we want nothing to do with you. May a huge barrier surround you. May you never be allowed to enter Jannah. This is the curse of the angels.

Good Deeds Without Iman — Scattered Dust

Allah says: "And We shall turn to whatever deeds they have done and turn them into scattered dust." You know haba' is dust — when you see sunlight coming through a window and you see the dust floating there, how it's all over, how you cannot capture it, teeny tiny particles. All the good deeds that a man or woman without iman has done — Allah will instantaneously put a cross through them. You have 10 billion — put a cross through the one — what happens? Zero. If that iman is not present in front of those actions, all those actions will instantaneously become zero.

Now a person will say: in the dunya there are many who are not Muslims, who don't have لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللهُ مُحَمَّدٌ رَسُولُ اللهِ, but they do many good deeds. Well, if you do good deeds, you get rewarded for it in this dunya. Someone does good deeds — he will get fame, he will get name, he will be memorialized, there will be a statue created for him, a memorial, his name on a plaque, he will make tons of money, there will be a day set for celebrating his life. Allah has made this world a place of asbaab. Whatever effort you make in it, you will reap the rewards of it.

Our teacher, Hazrat Mufti Taqi 'Uthmani — daamat barakaatuhum — would say that this ayah can be taken in a general context as well: whatever effort you make, Allah will allow you to succeed in that. If someone, Allah forbid, says, "I want to become the greatest scam artist, I want to become the greatest thief" — if you work hard enough for it, you will become that. This is the dunya. So the disbelievers have made a lot of effort, banked on it, and cashed out — in terms of dividends, money, fame, name, world dominance. They cannot say on the Day of Judgment, "But I helped people." Well, you got what you deserved. You already have been cashed out.

The Famous Hadith of the Three Who Will Be Thrown Into the Fire First

That is why you know the famous hadith: on the Day of Judgment, a person does deeds for someone besides Allah. He was generous, but not for Allah. He was a scholar, but not for Allah. He was a mujahid, but not for Allah. Allah will ignite fire through these three people first.

(Sahih Muslim, Book 33, Hadith 4923)

The lighter fluid of Jahannam is who? The lighter fluid of Jahannam is insincere scholars — may Allah protect us. Insincere generous people — may Allah protect us. And insincere people who gave their lives up in so-called shaheed, but they're not shaheed — may Allah save us from becoming in any of these three categories.

But what will Allah tell them? "You lie. Don't say you did it for Me. You did it for name and fame and you got what you wanted." That's what will be told to all three. "You wanted people to say you're generous, and that's what happened — the word on the street was you're a very philanthropic wealthy man. You got what you wanted. You wanted people to say you're a great scholar, a great qari — you got all the likes on the internet, people left and right trying to give you gifts. You got what you wanted. There's nothing for you here." Similarly, all of those people — disbelievers — without iman, any action they do, the same will be told to them: هَبَاءً مَّنثُورًا — scattered dust. You've got nothing.

My dear brothers and sisters, that is why it's so important that we never equate what a believer does with what a non-believer does. Don't ever allow your tongue to say, "Non-Muslims are so much better than Muslims in this. The akhlaq of non-Muslims are much better. The philanthropy of non-Muslims are much better." We hear this statement many times. They have the dunya, we have the akhirah. That doesn't mean we should not make an effort. But please understand: someone who does not have iman cannot be equated with someone who has only one speck of good deeds with iman. Because the person who died without faith — on the Day of Judgment, he will have absolutely nothing to look forward to.

The People of Jannah — Surah Al-Furqan Ayah 24

When Allah speaks about the people of hellfire, He always follows it up with the people of Jannah — to end on a good note, a hopeful note.

Rather, the companions of the everlasting garden of paradise — on that day — shall be in the best place of residence, and the fairest state of repose.

Allah calls the people of Jannah ashabul Jannah here. Why is that? Like you have a sahib — a companion — meaning someone who is always with them. The people of Jannah will remain in Jannah all the time. That's why ashabul maymana and ashabul mash'ama are mentioned in Quran — Surah Al-Waqi'ah. Sahib means someone who is with someone. So ashabul Jannah means they will never be exiled from Jannah. It also means — just like a companion loves a companion — these people not only enter Jannah, but Jannah likes them, and is waiting for them, and desires them. As Rasulullah ﷺ mentioned, certain companions are such that Jannah is waiting to receive them — الْجَنَّةُ تَشْتَاقُ إِلَيْهِمْ. Jannah is actually waiting for the day it can welcome these companions of the Prophet ﷺ. That is why ashab has been used here.

On that day the people of Jannah will be in a far superior state in two things: mustaqarran — a place of residence, your full long-term residence will be much better — and maqila. You know the word qaylulah — the siesta, the short daytime nap. Mustaqarran is usually your husband, wife, kids, everyone at home together. Maqila — when a person does qaylulah, he might be traveling, at work, out in the fields, with no one there, just resting with a brick as a pillow. So maqila gives the meaning of a very secluded private place.

Jannah will have public places where you will be able to enjoy time with your family and guests. And Jannah of course has places that are your private penthouse — where there's no one there besides yourself. In both of these cases, Allah says, the people of Jannah will be far superior in terms of their ending than anyone of the people of Jahannum.

So this is where we will end our four verses covered today. We ask Allah عَزَّ وَجَلَّ to make us all the people of Jannah, and save us from having the characteristics and qualities of the people of hellfire.